NBC News posted a news article on March 27, 2019. The article was written by Daniella Silva and focused on the topic of asylum-seekers who were sent back to Mexico while waiting to appear in court, are finally in front of a judge in San Diego.
The article’s title does not make sense or is missing a word, which greatly affects the article’s credibility. The title also uses words like “forced,” and “fear.” The title is trying to make readers have an emotional connection to the article. Right under the title, there is a picture of a girl and a daughter and the caption states that the girl in the picture has struggled to find a lawyer to represent her and she remains trapped in Tijuana.
Throughout the article, the story of a man named R.T.’s opportunity to speak to a judge who could grant him asylum in the United States is presented. RT says he had fled from Guatemala due to violence and death threats. The writer mentions that hundreds of migrants are stuck living in a dangerous border towns in Mexico between their court dates, and states that the migrants feel the towns they are currently placed in are just as dangerous as the place they fled from. This information can be easily manipulated or altered to appeal more emotion to the reader.
The article also speaks about the President’s recent decision to return some migrants to Mexico after they present their asylum claim at the border. The refugee program director of Al Otro Lado gave a comment saying “If the goal of the policy is to strike terror in the minds and hearts of asylum seekers and create a completely chaotic environment and obliterate due process rights, then the policy is wildly successful (Silva 2019).”
The writer clearly does not agree with the Trump Administration’s new policy that has asylum- seekers waiting for court in Mexico. The fact that they made notice to the policy negatively shows that the writer displays bias in the article. It seems that she uses emotions to make people feel bad hoping that they will change their opinion if it differs from hers.
While I generally am concerned about asylum seekers safety, the author has no proof other than the comments by R.T. that the border towns are just as dangerous as the places, which causes for speculation.
If the author wanted to present the information with very little bias, she could have said “While asylum seekers are waiting for their court date, they are living in border towns.” It makes it difficult to believe what is real or what it altered since so many news stores include bias to try to push their beliefs on you.The only acceptable time for the author to include their beliefs and bias is through blog posts, opinion pieces, etc.
Silva, Daniella. “Asylum-Seekers Forced to Wait in Tijuana Fear for Their Lives.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 27 Mar. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/asylum-seekers-forced-wait-tijuana-fear-their-lives-n988081.